Corey Crawford comes up big in return but Blackhawks fall 2-1 in overtime

Normally, it takes a while — maybe a few periods, maybe a few games — for them to feel comfortable in net.

Corey Crawford is one of those goaltenders, but in his first game back since undergoing an appendectomy Dec. 3, Crawford looked like he did not miss a beat.

But the Hawks could not pull out a victory Friday night despite Crawford's strong performance, falling 2-1 in overtime to the Avalanche, the team with the fewest points in the NHL coming into the United Center.

Nathan MacKinnon ended the game 25 seconds into overtime with a wrist shot on a 2-on-1 break.

Crawford finished with 32 saves and announced his return for good during one sequence in the second period that got fans out of their seats.

It was a marked departure from last season, when it seemed as if every few weeks players were coming and going from the IceHogs. Center Tanner Kero, who played 17 games with the Hawks last season,...

The Hawks were on a penalty kill late in the period with Nikita Zadorov on the doorstep and seemingly prime to score a goal. But Crawford dove across the stretch, swatted his stick and connected with the puck to preserve a 1-0 lead. If there were any doubts about Crawford's mobility or flexibility in his return from surgery, that save answered them.

"I was just trying to feel good from the start," Crawford said. "I was reading plays pretty good so that was the most important thing, seeing the puck well, reading plays and reacting after that. I felt pretty good."

The Hawks didn't make it simple for Crawford to ease into his first start back. The Avalanche had eight of the first nine shots on goal in the first period, but Crawford was able to turn all of them aside before the Hawks woke up and realized they were facing the league-worst Avalanche. They outshot the Avalanche 11-5 the rest of the period, but didn't strike until the second period.

That's when Jonathan Toews scored for the first time since Nov. 6. Toews scored a power-play goal off a nice feed from Artemi Panarin, who slid the puck along the goal line behind Avalanche goaltender Calvin Pickard. Toews redirected the puck into the net, breaking a goal drought that had frustrated him of late.

"Like I've been saying it was a matter of time," Toews said. "It was an ugly one. I probably stole that one from (Panarin) but I think he has had his fair share of one-timers on the power play. It was nice to feel one and see it go in. It always helps the confidence no matter what. Unfortunately we couldn't feed off it and get some more."

The Avalanche got on the board in the third period when Mikko Rantanen redirected a pass at the 5 minute, 42 second mark from Tyson Barrie and past Crawford, who stood little chance of making the save.

But Crawford would come up big later in the period, stopping a breakaway chance from Blake Comeau to keep the game 1-1 with just more than eight minutes to play.

"Thank God for the way he played …" Toews said. "We let him feel the puck a little bit, gave him a couple breakaways to deal with but unfortunately we couldn't find a way to get the offense going and get the edge."

The Hawks won despite playing short-handed. Center Artem Anisimov and winger Marian Hossa, who have combined to score 30 goals this season, missed the game because of upper-body injuries.

But despite being short-handed and not playing their best hockey the Hawks were able to pull out a point because of Crawford's performance.

Some things never change.

"A lot of good plays around the net," Crawford said. "We had that game. … It was a fast game and a good way to end it before the break, it just happens sometimes, you let it slip away."